Fly Away
by Vamptress RayZor
Summary: [3] Reffie. He wanted to ger her voice out of his head... Sequel to [2] [Series of drabbles.]
1. Fly Away

_**Fly Away  
**A series of Reffie, Yuffentine, and Clouffie drabbles that may or may not fit together._

_By: V. RayZ_

Lilac eyes watched the people run through the rain, trying not to get wet. She had her hood pulled up and had her hands tucked in the pouch pocket on the front of her hoodie, but did not move from the safety of the awning. She watched the child running toward his mother's car in pure glee, eyes wide and hair sticking to his face. She had never been allowed to do that. Her mother had made her be proper, always wearing the traditional garb, but her father had not really been involved in her life. Her mother died when Yuffie was five, when Chekov took over Yuffie's life. Chekov had been a firm believer in playing in the dirt and rain would help a child grow, but Godo disagreed.

She shook her head to clear the memories from her mind, then walked through the parking lot of the grocery store. Since natural gases and coal had taken the place of MAKO, more people decided to drive vehicles. She had a motorcycle, but had decided against driving it in the rain. Instead, she had driven her little grey pickup truck. Never in her life had Yuffie Kisaragi thought that she would drive a truck, but her little grey pickup truck was her favorite vehicle for times when her motorcycle was deemed inappropriate.

"Hey! Hey, you!" She glanced around to see who was yelling and why. A tall man in a navy blue suit was standing behind her truck, waving his hand wildly at her while trying to keep dry by holding his briefcase above his fiery red head. She cocked her head to the side, curious as to who he was and what he wanted.

"What?" she hollered back, beginning to notice how wet her hoodie was getting.

"Hurry up and get over here so I can get in your truck and outta this rain!"

She stopped a few feet away from him, leaning against the bed of her pickup and eyeing him with distrust. "Who the hell are you?" she replied, watching the man. He was taller than she, about six feet or so, with long crimson tresses that were soaked and dripping. He had x-shaped scars beneath each green eye and his suit was fairly messy. The jacket was unbuttoned, his shirt untucked and haphazardly buttoned, there was no tie in sight, and he seemed too pale. She knew him as a Turk, but had forgotten his name over the past four years.

"Oh, c'mon, Princess," he shot back. He watched as she stared at him in curiosity before letting his jaw drop. "You really don't remember me?"

She let a laugh tumble from her lips. "Oh, I remember you, but your name escapes me." She looked thoughtful. "Was it Vegas or something like that?"

He glowered. "Reno."

"Ah," she replied in quiet revelation. "Reno. Right, the loud-mouthed one who was friends with the bald rude guy, whose name matched his attitude - Rude - and the blonde bimbo who talked too much - Elena." She quirked an eyebrow. "Whaddya want?"

He indicated to the passenger side door and replied, "To sit somewhere out of the rain would be a good start." She merely looked at him with her odd purple eyes. "Fine. There's a bounty on your head and Reeve sent me to make sure that you're safe."

She laughed loudly. "A bounty? And you're my bodyguard? That's gravy!" She wiped a strand of wet ebony hair from her eyes and unlocked her door, looking back up at him with pure amusement. "Want a ride somewhere?"

He dead-panned. "Dude, I'm supposed to be a bodyguard, sweet cakes. Like, I can fill you in on the details and all that."

She remained stoic, watching him become red-faced. "Right. Want a ride? Or are you content in the rain?"

He sighed and nodded, then waited for her to lean across and unlock his door. The truck started up and they were off. The inside of her truck was just as small as it looked. With fairies hanging on the mirror, Wutainese dragon seat covers, and the word "Serenity" written in Wutainese on the floor mats, he decided that it looked a lot like a teenager's truck.

"So, start filling me in."

Her voice had caught the Turk off-guard and he looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Godo has a lot of enemies in Wutai, as you probably know. People are angry that he has not fixed up the town with the gil that you left for him to do so, but he claims that he needs more gil. The entire town is in an uproar over everything going on in the political area and there have been threats against Lord Godo and yourself."

She shook her head, hmphing with a sarcastic smirk on her face. "I'm not even there and they're gonna take it out on me." She sighed. "Well, Reevie sent ya, huh?"

Reno raised an eyebrow, smirking at her question. "Reevie?"

She grinned lop-sidedly. "Yeah, I began calling him that after we found out that he was the man behind the cat mask. Anyway, so he sent you?"

"Yeah. We knew that you and Laney'd probably bite each others' heads off by the end of a conversation and Rude's on guard duty with your old man, so that left me."

Yuffie pulled onto a narrow road just outside of Glasgow and the truck bumped along, causing Reno some discomfort. She laughed at the scowl on his face. "Sorry, darlin'," she said, mimicking his Midgar accent quite well. "I live out here in a one-story ranch house with two bedrooms, one that has become a kid's room for when Teef's kids come over, a den, a living room, a bathroom, a laundry room, and a huge arse barn in the back. I board chocobos and teach people - usually kids - how to ride. I also have two dogs, two ferrets, and numerous cats."

Reno shuddered. "You live on a farm... You're telling me that the princess of a tourist trap lives out here with a buncha animals...?"

She laughed. "Yeah, Reno. I live on a farm. Where I take care of chocobos and other animals. Get used to the fresh air, because I'm sure that this feud is gonna last awhile."

He glared at the window for the rest of the ride. Fields upon fields stretched out across the plains. He had known that Glasgow was a little place near the chocobo ranch that Chocobo Bill had once owned, but this was ridiculous. Even Bill and Billy had given up ranching and had moved to a town near the Gold Saucer. Not Yuffie, though. She decided to become a farmer. Why had Reeve not mentioned that before? Reno just knew that bastard was laughing his ass off in Junon. At least it had stopped raining, he mused.

They pulled down a long gravel lane that had a fence on either side until two dogs raced toward them. One was a blue heeler and the other was an Australian Shepard. Yuffie called to them out her rolled down window, yelling at them to get up to the house. The two dogs were obedient and sat on the front porch of her home until Reno stepped out of the truck.

"The blue one is Casey and the white and red one is Surk. They won't bite if you're nice."

Reno eyed them warily. "Yeah, I'm not a dog person."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her purse from behind the seat. "Casey, Surk, c'mon. Inside."

The two dogs cast a glance at Reno before following their owner into the house. Reno started in after, but Casey began growling, blocking the doorway.

"Er... It's okay, Casey. Good girl. Don't bite Reno."

Yuffie whistled loudly, drawing the dog's attention and granting Reno entrance. "First off, Casey's a boy, Reno. Both dogs are. Second off, if they are growling at you, then lower your eyes to the ground so they don't think you're challenging them. This is _their_ home, after all."

Reno nodded, shoulders slumping. Damn, this was going to suck.

------

A chocobo warked in greeting to the petite woman in an over-sized flannel shirt and jeans. She patted it absent-mindedly on its head, then continued to watch the gorgeous sunset. She loved the late evenings, especially after a good, long rain. The deep purples and blues of the coming night sky seemed to remind her of the good ole days of chasing Sephiroth. She had not seen nor talked to any of them except Tifa, who was married with twins. Sean and Sky were two, hence the play room that Yuffie had created.

She wondered idly if Tifa knew about the bounty...

Shaking her head, the ninja continued to take care of the animals in her barn. There were twelve chocobos in all, each with its own unique personality. Mint green eyes watched her from the door to the barn, silently assessing her movements. She was so cautious, ever careful to keep her guard up with the chocobos, but sweet and innocent at the same time. Reno did not know how she managed to keep them all quiet, but they alerted her as soon as the man stepped completely into the barn.

"What do ya need?" she called, never looking back at him. He decided that it must have been her ninja senses.

"Just watching you," he replied in his Midgar slur. "Jus' doin' my job, sweet cheeks."

She turned and looked at him for a moment, chocolate bangs falling over one eye, head cocked to the side. She seemed to be trying to figure him out. He felt uneasy all of a sudden. As if she was breaking down the barriers that every Turk was trained to use. She could strip away a layer just by looking at him, a layer by talking to him, a layer by looking cute, and another layer just by being near him. He was undeniably attracted toward her - however lustfully it may have been - so he decided to blame the layer stripping on that: lust. He had not been laid in...

"Well, d'ya wanna at least learn their names?" she asked, adopting his Midgar accent. She laughed at his blank expression. "The chocobos," she added, confused as to what he had been thinking about.

"Sure," he replied.

Reno walked over to her as she fed the first one. "This is Santa Maria. She belongs to the mayor's daughter." They moved onto the next one. "And this is Fredrick, he's the mayor's son's." And they went down the row, then across to the other six. Santa Maria, Fredrick, Chelly, Gevrok, Malestrom... But he was not really retaining information. Reno Zanard was too busy watching the ninja farmer. Her movements were precise, never faltering, always perfect. Her words were spoken quickly in her Wutainese accent, making it sometimes hard to understand. She had a small smile on her face as she spoke. He felt as if he could be at ease suddenly. As if she would never view him as only a Turk.

"And this one's mine," she spoke softly, petting the black chocobo. "Cloud called her a failure because she wasn't a gold chocobo. I think that she's gorgeous."

Reno studied the rather anti-social chocobo, noting the similarities between her and a certain AVALANCHE member. Her eyes were garnet red, feathers black as midnight with an interesting crimson tipping, the way she seemed to take to Yuffie and not Reno...

"She was Vincent's at first," the ninja said quietly, seeming to take on a different tone of voice. She seemed distant... "He and I... We hung out a lot, but his mercenary work was booming near Midgar and really shitty here. Since Cloud had given me a gold chocobo and Vincent got the black one, I traded him. He needed to go places, mine was only being used for recreational purposes. So, I got Chloe and he got Jonah." She shook herself out of the trance and grinned at Reno. "Anyway! C'mon, Turkey, I'll make dinner."

The two of them left the barn, Reno helping her close the large door at the front to keep out coyotes, wolves, or monsters. They walked to the house, where Casey and Surk allowed Reno to enter without too much of a problem.

-----

Two months went by quicker than either of the two would have thought. Reno was becoming more and more interested in the goings on of a chocobo farm and Yuffie was becoming easier and easier to talk to. They got up early and took care of the chocobos, had breakfast, went to town for whatever they needed, went home for lunch, worked on the fences - which were in constant need of repair - took care of the chocobos, had dinner, then had the rest of the evening to hang out. They usually sat around and talked or played cards, occasionally watching a movie. That evening was no different... Until there came a visitor.

A loud knock on the front door caught Yuffie's attention at eight-thirty that night. Casey and Surk did not bark, which made Reno extremely curious. "Maybe I should answer-"

But Yuffie was already throwing the door open. A tall silhouette stood there for a moment. No one said a word or, it seemed, even breathed. Yuffie threw her arms around the person and their arms wrapped around her petite waist. The golden glint of a claw told Reno who it was. Casey and Surk pranced around Yuffie's legs, pawing at the person's legs for attention. Reno stood, clearing his throat.

Yuffie turned and grinned at him, small hands resting on her visitor's shoulders limply. "Oh! Reno, you know Vincent, right?"

The tall gunslinger stepped into the light and Reno was a little taken aback. Though her eyes were crimson, a red cape took the place of his cloak, so that his face was fully exposed. A thin scar ran from his left temple to the left corner of his mouth, increasing the red head's curiosity. "Hello, Reno," Vincent said, casting Yuffie a look of confusion.

"There's a bounty on the ninja's head," Reno said to clear things up. "Reeve sent me two months ago to watch over her. Kinda like a secret service of one, y'know?"

Yuffie grinned at her dark comrade. "He's been a great help here, but we haven't seen much action when it comes to abnormal behavior in town." She flipped her hair out of her eyes with a hand, the other hand still on his shoulder. Reno got the feeling that there was more between the two that anyone else knew. And he also got the feeling that he should not have known either.

"Still," Vincent said softly, "You should not be alone. I will stay for a while... At least until this mess has been cleared up." Yuffie looked down and away from him, not being completely satisfied with his response. She dropped her hand from his shoulder, crossing her arms across her chest and looking over at Reno with an oddly bitter smile.

"I'm gonna go take care of his chocobo, okay?"

Vincent shook his head. "I can do so withou-"

"I've got a stall to fix up for her. Besides, I need to check Georgia Rain anyway. She's new." With that, Yuffie pulled her work boots on and grabbed her jacket and flashlight, then headed out the door.

Vincent sighed, looking at Casey, who was obviously in need for some attention from the man. "She's going to be mad at me for awhile," he said aloud to nothing in particular.

Reno remained silent, but slipped out the back door to check on his charge. He stood in the shadows of the barn, watching her silently as she led the shimmering gold chocobo into the barn. Jonah strutted with an arrogance that reminded Reno briefly of Yuffie on any other day.

"Shouldn't've gotten my hopes up," she said to the chocobo. "Best I could have hoped for was that he would stay as long as Reno because he's so fragging paranoid. He's probably pissed that I didn't call him on his PHS when Reno showed up." She sighed as she pulled the saddle and such off the golden beast. "I don't know what my feelings for that man are anymore. I mean, I thought that I loved him, but maybe I was just alone and he's so mysterious."

Reno ran a hand through his hair, a queasy feeling in his stomach. He really should not have been hearing that conversation, but he could not help himself.

"And Reno... He's not nearly as horrible as I thought he would be. Two months living with him has made me wonder why I'm with a man who wants to keep our relationship a secret. Vincent's so... so..."

"Hey, are you okay?" Reno could barely believe that he said anything as he sauntered into the barn.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Did you... Did you hear anything I just said?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Talking to yourself, princess? Sure sign of psychosis." She replied by sticking her tongue out at him. "Careful, sweetheart, I'll take that as an offer."

She smirked. "How d'ya know that it wasn't?"

The two stood there, scarcely four feet apart, eyes locked. Jonah affectionately nipped at Yuffie's hand and she continued to get his stall ready. Reno stared at her as she moved, still wearing jeans and a baggy flannel shirt with her work boots. Her hair had grown longer, hitting her at shoulder length, and was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. She was beautiful, he decided right then. She was beautiful and Vincent knew it, that was why she had referred to him as being paranoid.

"Yuffie?"

Both people in the barn turned to look at Vincent Valentine, standing there in blue jeans and a black tee-shirt.

"Can we talk?" he asked, stoic as ever.

She looked at Reno, took a deep breath, then nodded. "Reno, you wanna leave or take care of Jonah?"

"I'll take care'a'the bird," he replied, not really wanting to leave the comfort of the barn. It was always so serene in there, he had found out over two months.

Yuffie hugged him thankfully, patted Jonah on the head, instructed Reno on which greens to give the bird, then walked out of the barn with her dark lover. She stepped over to lean against the fence, staring up at the stars. "What, Vincent?"

He took her hands in his. "I am sorry for sounding like an ass," he told her. "You know that I wish to be here with y-"

"Then fucking act like it," she shot back, cutting him off. "If you want me so bad... If you want to _be_ with me so bad... Fucking tell someone. Tell everyone! Don't make me keep this a Leviathan damned secret for my entire life." She pulled her hands from him and stuck them into the pockets of her faded blue jeans. "Tifa doesn't know, my friends in town don't know... Hells, _I_ don't even know if we're together more than half the time. You take off to Midgar for a week or a couple months and I don't hear from you, then you randomly appear in the doorway... It's been this way for more than a year, Vincent. I'm ready for a real relationship. I'm an adult. I need someone to love me. To hold me. To be here for me."

He licked his dry lips, claw clenching and unclenching unconsciously. "Yuffie... I do... I do not wish for marriage. I can never be a father..."

She looked away, tears welling up in her eyes. "Well... The kid thing wouldn't've been a problem for me, Vincent. But if you didn't want a _real_ relationship, it woulda been grand for you to have told me." She began walking up to her house. "Stay tonight, but I would recommend finding an inn room when you come to Glasgow again."

Vincent growled and glared at the ground. That was not how he wanted things to go. A hand clapped on his left shoulder and he looked over to see a slightly shorter Reno. "You've just made a huge ass mistake, my friend."

"How would you know?" Vincent shot at the Turk.

Reno shrugged, putting his hands in the pockets of his denim jeans and looking across the back yard at the door that Yuffie was entering. "I've been living here for two months because Reeve made me... But she's one of a kind, Valentine. She's true to you, her feelings run deep, and she can run off anyone that thinks otherwise." He smirked. "I'd give anything for a woman like her. For a woman that's not silicone and make-up... A woman that's a hundred percent real."

The red head left Vincent and walked toward the back door. Crimson orbs stared at the ground, mulling over what Reno had said.

_... But she's one of a kind, Valentine. She's true to you, her feelings run deep, and she can run off anyone that thinks otherwise._

A chocobo warked from the barn and he turned to look at the barn, the golden light from heat lamps illuminating the doorway like a golden archway to some religion's heaven. He remembered seeing her standing there the last time he had visited her. She had looked like an angel, bathed in that heavenly golden light.

_I'd give anything for a woman like her..._

She had been wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, but looked so perfect. Her hair was too short to even tuck behind her ears, her lilac eyes were tired, but she still grinned at him with utter perfection.

_A woman that's a hundred percent real._

Vincent felt the bitter sting of tears as he walked back to close the door to the barn. A monster did not deserve an angel. A monster did not deserve to be in that angel's presence, let alone be loved by her. He would get an inn room in the morning. So, he let a tear escape, closed the barn door, and returned to the house. The night was cold, lonely, and long.

-----

Three more months went by after that night. Yuffie was making lunch and Reno sitting at the table playing with Casey when an evil idea crept into the ninja's mind. She took a handful of flour and attacked Reno with it.

"What the-" But he received a mouthful of flour.

"Gotcha!"

Reno immediately retaliated by getting flour on her cheeks and in her very short chocolate hair. Her hair was in short spikes for the spring months, which Reno decided looked very sexy on her. The flour fight continued on, Casey and Surk hiding beneath the large oak table, until Reno randomly kissed her.

The sparks of emotion sent Yuffie's head reeling, but she returned the kiss without a second thought. He tasted like flour, but she honestly did not mind. A high-pitched ringing made Yuffie pull away and look at him curiously, out of breath. He gazed into her eyes for a moment, then grabbed his PHS. She was straddling his waist, watching him with the curiosity of a puppy.

"Reno..." Pause. "Yeah, I'm still here with her. I wasn't plannin' on leavin', why?" Her heart sped up at those words even though she knew that he meant it another way than it sounded. "It's over? I'll let her know... Yeah, I'm takin' my damn vacation." The person on the other line spoke again, but Yuffie was busy getting over to the sink to wash the flour off. The water and flour combination made a lovely paste, but did not seem to want to wash off. "Hell, I dunno. Yeah, I'm off duty now. Whatever, man. See ya."

Reno looked to see Yuffie trying to scrub herself clean and sighed. "The bounty's been called off. Godo wants to see you to know for sure that you're safe."

"I'll call him later," she said softly.

An uneasy silence fell between them as the water ran and he fidgeted. "I'm... I'm off duty now," he said somewhat quietly.

"I heard," was her response.

Neither wanted him to leave. He kept her company and she made him smile out of happiness. "I... I don't want to go."

She stopped what she was doing and turned off the water. Slowly, she turned to look at him, her amethyst gaze meeting his aqua marine. "I don't want you to leave," she said so softly that he could barely hear her.

He was up in an instant and across the room, with her in his arms. Words were not needed, just having her in his arms was enough.

"Are you going to stay with me, Reno?"

He smiled down at her. "Sure thing, sweetheart. As long as you'll let me."

She returned the smile. "Wouldn't dream of having it any other way."

_**.fin.**_

_**This is just the start of a series of drabbles. This seems to be a popular idea - and easier than having 50 one-shots up - so I'm gonna go with the flow for once.**_


	2. Blurred Snowflakes

_**2**_

_**Blurred Snowflakes  
**__RayZor_

_I wrote this last spring sometime, so please bear with the older style of writing. It was one of my first in-depth detail fics and I just got it typed up today. Enjoy!_

Icy green eyes stared up at the sky from his seat upon the roof of his new home. Stars twinkled like diamonds upon a black velvet back drop. No, he decided. That was too cliche. They were snowflakes that a child had caught upon a piece of black felt - to examine them, of course - blurred by the tears from a brisk winter breeze. Yes, that described the stars much better. No cliches for this red head. He's all original, baby!

Except for one thing... He craved to be accepted. He needed to be normal, to be able to fit into society, to walk the streets without being feared. He could have no such luck. Anyone from the higher ranks of ShinRa was to be put in prison for public endangerment. So far, Scarlet, Hedeigger, Palmer, and Reeve - who was soon released due to the Planet's Saviours begging - had been caught and put behind bars. The Turks split. None of them knew where the others were. That was, interrogation was useless.

Sighing, the man leaned back until he was lying with his hands behind his head. Only because of one woman could he live in such leisure. She had fought him physically at least once - in Gongaga - yet fought for him for ten months in court. A chance meeting in Mideel, the normal childish insults traded, a man yearning for freedom and accepteance, a woman striving to make a difference, to leave her mark on the world, strictly platonic. Yeah, as if. If Reno could have kept his hands to himself, he would have never ended up with ShinRa. The grabbing of an ass landed his own ass in trouble with Scarlet, then landed him a job when he whooped up on her two guards. Needless to say about the woman fighting for him, though... She was not as innocent as most perceived.

As this thought crossed his mind, he smirked. Where was she anyway? Surely her trip from Nibelheim to his house - a quaint little place on the edges of Cosmo Canyon with a great view of the ocean - could not take two hours! She must have stopped off at store or gas station or something. Her apartment in Nibelheim was less than forty-five minutes away - less if Reno was driving. Reno frowned. Could something have happened?

_Whipped, are we? Worried about our little princess?_

He shook his head, staring at the blurred snowflakes upon black felt and trying not to think of her. But the more he tried not to think of her - as one might have guessed - the more he _did_ think of her. She was thin - scrawny, really, with barely enough curves to make her look feminine - with a short stature, obviously Wutain through and through. Her eyes varied in shades from storm cloud grey to light lilac, depending on the lighting. Short, choppy layers were sun-bleahed and framed her elfen face perfectly. To go along with that cute picture was a quick tempered imaptience accompanied by a tongue-lashing to rival all.

"Dammit," he grumbled and sat up. "I'm only with 'er 'cause she ain't afraid of me an' she treats me like anyone else. Makes me feel accepted." A white light shot across the sky. A shooting star. He had never wished on one before... But this time, he did. And he kept his wish silent, like an unspoken longing or dream that one never expects to come true. He knew that his wish was stupid, juvenile, wishing for a person, not a thing. But he did not care.

"I'm lyin' to myself. I'm with 'er 'cause I love 'er."

Headlights appeared in the distance, but he did not notice. He was entranced by the blue-white snowflakes caught upon black felt, blurred by tears from a brisk winter's wind. They seemed so far, but tauntingly close. Too far away to touch, yet close enough to feel their innocent gaze. The roar of a V8 engine made him start and look toward the road that led to his house. Headlights stared back, bright and blinding.

_Just like her personality._

In a few minutes, the large pick-up had parked behind his blue Berreta, which never ran. He returned to watching the stars, knowing that the driver would either call him or find him. He figured the latter.

"Hey, Turkey, arentcha bored yet?"

A small smile graced his face. "Nope. Care to join, dawl?" He heard her shuffle, but she did not plop beside him. Unexpectedly, she remained sitting on the window sill. He looked back to see a serious expression on her normally smiling face. "Whassa matter, sweetheart?"

She wrinkled her nose in a cute fashion to show her distaste for what she was about to say. Obviously, something bad had happened. "You gotta go on trial, Ree. Charges against you for public endangerment from the ShinRa bullshit."

He stood and stretched. "We knew it was gonna happen sooner or later, darlin'."

Yuffie frowned, brushing too-long chocolate bangs out of her face with manicured fingers. "My friends," she spat the word as if it tasted like asphalt, "Are the ones charging you. Cloud Strife, Barret Wallace, Tifa Lockheart, and Cid Highwind." Reno's calm green eyes met her livid purple. "How could they do this?"

Reno shrugged. "'Cause I'm ShinRa scum?"

She scowled. "You are not! Kya-ha-ha and Gya-ha-ha and Lard-Ass are, not you!" She huffed in aggrivation, folding one leg beneath her and letting the other dangle out the window. She did not wear her normal jeans and sneakers, he noticed finally. She wore a black skirt and pumps with pantyhose. "Gawd! They're **_so_** infuriating!"

He meandered over and looked down at her. Innocent lilac eyes watched him curiously. She was perfect righ then. Her hair was messy from having the windows down during the ride to his house, her make-up was a little smudged, her pantyhose had a run in them, her pumps had been discarded inside the house, her knee-length skirt had ridden up to her upper thigh; she looked gorgeous. He bent low to kiss her gently.

"It's gonna be fine, sweetheart."

She nodded, eyes closed. "I know. Because Reeve's gonna be you attorney." He smiled at her as she sat there, eyes closed and face to the heavens. An angel fallen from grace, her wings no longer attached. His guardian angel, even. More beautiful than gems or flowers and more deadly than the fastest acting poison. Yes, she was his guardian angel, taking on the world just for him.

He noticed her shiver and pulled her up so that she was standing, eyes open once again. He smield down at her. "So... What're we gonna do after I get off the hook? Go out to eat somewhere fancy? Go to a movie? Go to a concert?"

She laughed. Her laugh was a truly joyous sound, like church bells ringing on a Sunday afternoon or a butterfly fluttering through the woods in the early morning when everything is new. Then again, her laughter could be described as beautiful as Wutai bathed in the golden hues of a Da Chao sunset. However he preferred to describe her laugh worked for her. She thought he was too much of a dreamer to have ever been the Reno that she met in Gongaga.

"Who says we have to **_go_** somewhere?" she asked. He arched a crimson eyesbrow in questioning and an angelic smile graced her already too-perfect features. "Why don't we just come back and watch the stars?"

He smirked. "Is that all we would do?"

A look of overly dramatized shock crossed her face, but both knew the answer. "I am apalled that you would even _think_ of such a thing, let alone **voice** it," she stated in a mock sophisticated voice. Once again, they both knew that they would do more than stare at the stars. Being twenty and twenty-five, neither were naive enough to think otherwise.

He took her in his arms, just needing to hold her. She wrapped her slim arms about his waist and rested her forehead on his chest, taking in the faint cologne that was Reno and loving every moment of it. Reno rested his chin atop her chocolate and sun-streaked locks, eyes allowing tears to form and fall. Even with Yuffie and Reeve on his side, Strife could win all-too-easily. Lockheart and Wallace could be persuaded by their ninja friend, but Cloud and Cid could not. Tifa would stand by Cloud's word... And Barret went with the majority. He was royally fucked.

"Ree?"

"Hmm?"

"What if we **_do_** lose? What'll we do then?" He did not know what to say. He wanted to laugh it off, say that Reeve could get him out of it... But he... He could not. Yuffie was looking up at him now, the star light making her eyes look a vivid purple. "Could we just run?" she asked in such a faint whisper that he nearly dismissed it as the wind.

The snowflakes twinkled upon their piece of black felt, blurred by the tears from a brisk winter's wind. He smiled once again, a habit he had been forming in place of his drinking and smoking. Perhaps Yuffie's optimistic outlook on life had been rubbing off onto him? Or maybe he merely had more to smile and be happy about. Most likely both, he deicded. "Whatever ya wanna do, darlin'. I'm by your side as long as you're by mine."

She smiled again and hugged him tightly. Both of them knew that they would not run. They had nowhere to run to! Wutai was off limits for Reno - they hated ShinRa - and Yuffie was well-known as the youngest member of AVALANCHE, frmo almost four years before. Their case was hopeless, they could not run...

Mint green eyes turned toward the heavens, where diamonds glittered upon a black velvet backdrop. No, he told himself. They were tears... Lost in the turmoil and despair of one's heart. He crossed that one off too. Yuffie would tell him that it was too depressing, too angsty, to suit his style. Icy blue-white snowflakes winked at him from their spot on the piece of black felt, blurred by the tears from a brisk winter's wind. She would like that one. He might have to tell it to her.

Until then, though, he remained lost in her embrace, eyes to the heavens. A cool wind whipped his fiery ponytail around and the scent of wildflowers invaded his sense. Yuffie liked wildflowers. Maybe they could go on a picnic or something.

"C'mon, Ree," she said, tugging him toward the window. "I wanna see that movie we rented."

When she pulled away, the fragrance left. "Okay," he replied with one last glance at the blurred snowflakes in the black felt sky. One way or another, he and Yuffie would choose their paths, whether they included the other or not. The trials of a relationship - as well as the trials for "public endangerment" - lay ahead as they cuddled on the couch watching some cheesy vampire movie. And only blurred snowflakes helped clear Reno's mind.

_**.fin.**_


	3. Her Voice

_**3**_

_**Her Voice  
**(Sequel to 2 Blurred Snowflakes)  
_V. RayZ

_He had to get her voice out of his head..._

"Come out with your hands up!"

Green eyes looked over at his bald friend, shaking hands gripping his pistol tightly. Rude was breathing heavily, clutching his bloody stomach with both blood-stained hands, sweat beading across his brow.

"Reno! Rude! Stop this nonsense and get your asses out here, hands up!"

_-"Stop this nonsense and get over here, Ree. I need your help."-_

He looked over to where his angel knelt, undisturbed by the shots being fired their way. Short chocolate locks fell across her left eye and she quirked an eyebrow at him. "You gonna give up already? They're all against you. As soon as you stand up, you're dead."

He felt a dry chuckle excape him. "You're not here. sweetheart."

_**2 Months Before **_

Reno smiled at his fiancee, placing a large hand on her swollen tummy. She returned the smile, then continued making a grocery list. She was short in stature with short, choppy chocolate hair that always seemed stylishly messy and grey-lilac eyes. She had promised to keep him out of prison... And had succeeded so far.

"Reeve says that he's going to come out sometime this week," she told him, looking at the list she had made.

"To stop by or for business?" Reno asked, watching her intently.

She looked up at him with a small smile. "Both. Just because you won't let me go to work doesn't mean that work can't come to me." She got up to look in the cabinets.

"Yuff, what about the stress? It wasn't just because of the distance, y'know. If you're stressed, so's the baby, which can-"

"Oh, stop this nonsense and get over here, Ree. I need your help. I can't see if we have any tomato sauce."

A knock on the door alerted the couple's blue heeler, Casey. He barked, hackles raised in readiness for whomever tried to enter without permission. Reno patted the dog on the head as Yuffie Kisaragi made her way to the door. She opened it and greeted the unknown person kindly. They talked for a moment before Reno decided to check things out.

It all happened so quickly...

A loud shot.

Yuffie fell to the floor.

The person ran.

Reno ran to her, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. He called an ambulance, the local doctor, and Reeve. She had been shot in the stomach. Their eyes met for a brief moment, then he watched the light fade from her amethysts. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and Reno doubled over her body, sobbing harshly.

Yuffie Kisaragi and her unborn child were dead.

_**1 Month After Yuffie's Death **_

"Guilty."

Reno looked at Reeve, who stared dumbfoundedly at the judge. Cloud Strife smirked in triumph, but the other three AVALANCHE members remained silently staring at the ground. Reno merely nodded.

A motorcycle burst through the doors of the court room and skidded to a halt in front of Reno and Reeve. The red head grinned and jumped on behind the rider. The only three police officers in the court room fired shots, but missed as the two rode off. Reeve, the judge, the jury, and nearly everyone else in the court room stared after them in stupified silence.

"Well, go the fuck after 'em!" Cid hollered after a few moments.

_**1 Week After the Escape **_

Elena and Rude sat opposite of Reno at a table in some hole-in-the-wall restaraunt in Wutai. The red head was constantly depressed and went out of his way to stir trouble. Elena had only joined them for lunch, not willing to leave her husband and infant for Reno and Rude's mission to fuck up the world.

"Do you want me to put flowers on her grave?" Elena asked Reno.

_-"Flowers would be a nice gesture..."-_

He sighed and shook his head, ignoring **her** voice. "No, I'll do it myself. Besides, there're two graves in one." Elena looked shocked. "Her name was gonna be Renee Akaya."

Elena nodded. "I'll find the bastard who did it, Reno."

The red head shook his head. "No, Laney. I will. And I'll make him pay."

That was when Yuffie began appearing. She was suddenly sitting beside him, telling him where he and Rude should go. Reno never questioned her - or his sanity - but obeyed. Rude began to ignore when his friend talked to Yuffie, figuring that it was a way with coping with all the stress. After all, he lost his entire family in one second.

_**The Day of the Shoot Out (Beginning) **_

Reno and Rude burst into the cafe in Costa del Sol, guns raised. "Everyone out!" they ordered. When no one seemed to want to move, Reno shot a table beside a customer. That got them running.

Reno wore jeans and a tee-shirt with work boots, a witness had told the police. Rude wore suit pants, a white button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, suspenders, and dress shoes. The two were an odd pair, the farm boy and the mobster.

The men kicked over tables to help make a barricade. Reno was ready to go down. He was ready to be with Yuffie and Renee. Death seemed such a bittersweet glory.

"You could always pull your own trigger," **_she_** told him.

"I don't believe in suicide," he replied gruffly.

Within a few hours, the police - and Reeve - had shown up. They caught Rude off-guard and he collapsed behind the bar with a gut wound. Reno took out four cops, but needed to reload.

"Come out with your hands up!"

He looked at his injured friend. That line was something that he had heard in his dreams so many times. Yet it seemed so bland in real life.

"They'll kill you," **_she_** whispered in his ear.

"Reno! Rude! Stop this nonsense and get your asses out here, hands up!"

"You gonna give up already? They're all against you. As soon as you stand up, you're dead."

"You're fucking dead!" he screamed in agony. "I love you, but some sadistic fuck **killed** you!"

The officers were silent as the words echoed around the cafe. "Let me talk to him," Reeve pleaded.

"He killed you and Renee, Yuff! So why the hell are you still here? Am I fucking insane?"

Reeve took a few couple steps, talking as he went. "Not insane, Reno," he called. "Just unstable."

Rude chuckled dryly. "That's... Who you've... Been talking to...? Your... Dead girlfriend?"

Reno clutched his head in both hands. "Make her voice fucking stop, dammit! I... I can't live with this... It's not **_her_**! It's some gods damned wanna-be with _Yuffie's_ voice! I want _Yuffie_! I **need** my Yuffie!Her smile, her **_real_** voice!"

Reeve was behind the counter, kneeling next to the distressed Reno. "She's dead, Reno. Believe me, I know that it hurts, but she's gone. That voice is in your head. It's all in your head."

_"He's lying!"_ she screeched. _"He's just jealous 'cause he can't see or hear me!"_

Reno looked up at Reeve, eyes cold, and took aim. "I'm sorry, Reeve."

A shot rang out and the cops rushed forward. Reeve sat staring at the floor. In front of him, Reno Zanard was leaned against the bar, the back of his head blown out and his eyes closed. Rude was silently lying a little bit away.

"The voice was in his head, "Reeve said in a tear-choked voice. "He said he had to get her voice out of his head."

_**.fin.**_


End file.
